| THREE MEN IN A BOAT |
| The Christopher Ward watch company was founded on a boat on the River Thames in 2004 by Mike France, Chris Ward and Peter Ellis. From the start this has always been about finding a way for everyone to enjoy the truly visceral pleasure derived from owning and wearing a premium quality Swiss made watch. |
| |
| VIVE LA REVOLUTION! |
|
Having learned from insiders in the Swiss watch industry just how much of the cost of a typical luxury Swiss watch is marketing hype, the three friends set out on a mission to turn the traditional model on its head and create a revolution in watchmaking.
The phrase they instantly came up with that encapsulated the mission they were about to embark on was that they wanted to create..."the cheapest most expensive watches in the world."
Chris was the man with the watch making expertise, Mike and Peter, who previously owned the renowned Early Learning Centre chain of educational toy stores, brought the retail know-how. |
| |
| D-DAY JUNE 4TH 2005 |
| Having spent the best part of a year designing our first two watches, the C5 Malvern Automatic and C3 Malvern Chronograph, they were launched, via our website, onto an unsuspecting world in June 2005. The reaction was astonishing... |
| |
| THE POWER OF THE INTERNET |
Watch forums across the world were inundated with disbelieving watch aficionados’ claiming watches at this price couldn’t possibly be of the quality claimed. At one point in December 2005 our fledgling brand was being discussed more frequently on the world’s largest watch forum, Timezone, than Rolex!
And then, unbeknown to us, one of the world’s most influential watch bloggers, Dave Malone from Australia, purchased a Malvern Automatic with the intention of exposing the myth. To his eternal credit, having received his watch and being blown away by every aspect of it, he wrote a stunningly complimentary post which whizzed around the watch world like wild fire. Christopher Ward had arrived! |
| |
| THE CHRISTOPHER WARD FORUM |
| Other Christopher Ward followers decided in 2006 to start an independent forum, (www.christopherwardforum.com), dedicated to the discussion of our watches and philosophy and this helped to further spread the word so that by the end of that year we had customers in more than 40 countries (today it’s more than 70) as well as a ready made source of comments and ideas. The forum continues to thrive and is the perfect place for people new to our brand to learn what lurks behind the thin marketing veneer! |
| |
| LIKE-MINDED PARTNERS |
We have been fortunate to create close ties with partners in a host of disciplines who share our vision and values.
Our dedicated ateliers in the Jura, Switzerland, who assemble our watches by hand, are small enough to be devoted to the Christopher Ward brand but large enough to have attracted some brilliant watch makers and technicians.
A Swiss-made movement is a pre-requisite for a fine watch. We use some of the best and most famous manufacturers such as ETA, Sellita and Ronda.
Remember, if it doesn’t say Swiss Made on the face of a watch, it isn’t! |
| |
| THE TEAM AT NUMBER ONE PARK STREET |
| Last, but far from least, we have the team in Maidenhead. Chris, Mike and Peter would like to say a big huge thank you to Wera, Deborah, Fraser, Max, Andrew, Declan, Rachael, Tom, Callum, George, Richard, Gemma, Duncan and Mark for their hard work, constant good humour and total devotion to the cause. We couldn't do this without you. |
|
| |
MODEL TIMELINE |
| |
Here are the release dates of our models to date: |
| |
|
| |
| 2005 |
|
| June |
C5 Malvern Automatic and C3 Malvern Automatic |
| October |
W1 (now de-listed) |
| |
|
| 2006 |
|
| June |
C5 Malvern Aviator |
| August |
C4 Peregrine Chronograph |
| |
|
| 2007 |
|
| June |
C1 Russell |
| August |
C6 Kingfisher Diver-Pro, D8 Encore Diamond and |
| |
D9 Encore Diamond |
| October |
S3 and S7 Divine Carre, R3 and S3 Divine Ronde |
| |
|
| 2008 |
|
| June |
C2 Lido |
| July |
C8 Pilot |
| August |
C7 Rapide, W2 Lido and W7 Rapide |
| September |
C13 Chronograph, C15 Automatic, R9 Miro |
| |
and T9 L'Ovale |
| |
|
| 2009 |
|
| July |
C60LE Kingfisher Diver-Pro |
| August |
C70 Grand Prix Series, C40 SpeedHawk, C600 Tri- |
| |
Tech Diver Elite, C80 Sector, W6 Kingfisher Splash, |
| |
W7 Rapide MK II, W8 Matisse and W80 Matisse |
| |
Diamond |
| |
|
| 2010 |
|
| February |
Christopher Ward becomes the official |
| |
watchmaker to the RAF |
| |
|
| March |
C5BB70 Battle of Britain Limited Edition, |
| |
C70 Ad Astra |
| April |
Christopher Ward relocates to 1 Park Street, |
| |
Maidenhead, Berkshire |
| June |
C40 SpeedHawk (IPK) |
| July |
C8 Pilot Mk II, C5 Aviator Mk II, C70 RAF Ad |
| |
Astra, C60 Kingfisher Auto (yellow) |
| September |
C60 Trident Auto, C60 Trident GMT, C70DBR1, |
| |
C70 Brooklands COSC, C9 Harrison Chronograph, |
| |
C9 Harrison Auto, C90 Power Reserve |
| |
|
| 2011 |
|
| July |
C700 Grande Rapide |
| August |
C9 Jumping Hour, C8 Pilot Mk II Vintage, C11 MSL |
| |
Mk I Automatic, C11 MSL Mk I Chronograph, C50 |
| |
Malvern COSC |
| September |
C70 DBR1 COSC, Alex Sport, S21 and DS21 Emily, |
| |
S20 and R20 Charlotte, S30 and R30 Victoria, S30 |
| |
and R30 Constance, Alex Iconic |
| |
|
| 2012 |
|
| August |
C11 MSL Vintage Edition |
| September |
W60 Coral, C9 Automatic (white), C3 Malvern |
| |
Chronograph Mk II, C5 Malvern Automatic Mk II, |
| |
C5 Malvern Quartz Mk II |
| October |
W11 Amelia, C7 Rapide Mk II, W90/W900 |
| |
Belisama, C9 Chronograph (blue), C900 Single |
| |
Pusher, C60 Trident-Pro COSC, C10 Aviator |
| November |
C11 Makaira-Pro 500, C50 Malvern COSC (gold) |
|
|
